New Portland Schools Superintendent Carole Smith had an interesting conversation with the children of Kate Anderson's Spanish Immersion kindergarten class at Clarendon Elementary, and then posed for a picture with all the children. Smith replaces former Superintendent Vicki Phillips, who left to pursue a job at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. For the full story, see page 9.

It's nothing new; reports of membership increases in White supremacist groups have been trickling in for several years now.
Early in 2007, the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group that monitors hate groups, reported an explosion in the activity and membership of Ku Klux Klan groups across the nation. A year ago in the New York Times, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that large numbers of White supremacists and neo-Nazis had infiltrated the military, despite a 10-year ban on racist group membership.
White supremacists are once again on the move in Portland. From Oct. 5 to the 7, somewhere in the Portland Metro region, the neo-Nazi group the Hammerskins, will be celebrating their 20th anniversary. Also involved in organizing the event is Volksfront, a Portland-based White supremacist group.
To counteract Hammerfest 2007's message of hate, a group of anti-racists are holding their own rally Saturday, Oct.6 at 1 p.m. in Lents Park, Southeast 92nd and Steele Street.
Portland's history of hate group activity includes the 1988 murder of Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethopian student who was beaten to death in Southeast Portland by three members of a racist skinhead group.

Next week, Portland and its surrounding counties will take part in Topoff 4, a full-scale disaster preparedness exercise, organized and funded by the Department of Homeland Security. The idea is to prepare the city to act quickly and effectively in the event of a disaster—which could be anything from an earthquake, to a flu epidemic or a terrorist attack....

To the people who worked closely with John Canda, he was the man who could and would go the distance for Portland youth. With his knowledge of street culture and the pressures that push kids into gangs and into trouble, Canda had the credibility to bring all the players to the table....

Coaches Jamar Jones and LeMaine Davis talk to the 6th grade Rainier Eagles at half time of a league game
against the Norwest Rams from Tacoma, Saturday, Sept. 29 at Rainier Playfield.  The Rainier Eagles are members of the Greater Puget Sound Youth Football League.  The league consists of 10 teams from Gig Harbor to South Seattle, in age groups 7 to 13 years old.  The Norwest Rams went onto beat the Rainier Eagles 6th graders.

Last Monday, a standing-room-only crowd of 350 people joined King County Councilmembers at a Council Town Hall forum to examine the status of ongoing reforms in King County's criminal justice system and to focus on community partnerships that help deter crime, prevent recidivism and encourage self-empowerment.
"I was extremely pleased by the large turnout," said King County Council Chair and district host Larry Gossett. "By their presence and comments, the community let it be known that the simple approach of increased arrests, incarcerations and the building of more jails have proven not to solve crime. Prevention, intervention and strong partnerships with communities in addressing socioeconomic issues have been proven to be the most effective and cost efficient ways to ensure safe neighborhoods."
Councilmembers were briefed on how a 'paradigm shift' focusing on alternatives to incarceration has helped King County avoid nearly a quarter-billion dollars in additional incarceration costs over the last seven years, while reducing the county's need to build a third jail or a second youth detention facility.

Three organizations are launching a "Paint-it-Out" graffiti removal program for business and property owners in Southeast Seattle.
The goal of the "Paint-it-Out" program is to help eliminate graffiti in Southeast Seattle by painting it out as soon as it goes up. According to the Graffiti Hurts Web site, graffiti clean-up alone costs U.S. cities tens of thousands of dollars each year. These are funds which could be used for art programs, schools ...

In the spirit of promoting equal educational opportunities for all people, the Seattle NAACP will hold the innaugural Martin Luther King Jr. County Rally and Workshop for Public Education. The rally and workshop will be held Saturday, October 6 beginning at 10 a.m. at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave. S.
The goal is to provide students, teachers and parents with access to information that will help improve the quality of public education in the city of Seattle and King County as well as move toward creating equal ...

ART OF SURVIVING EXHIBIT .....CASCADE FESTIVAL OF AFRICAN films. .....ARCHAEOLOGY DIGS ... USED LIBRARY BOOK SALE ...KNITTING FOR BEGINNERS. ...CELEBRATE SEN. MARGARET CARTER .... POETRY READING .... NEW LIBRARY SITING in North Portland .... OCTOBER HARVEST celebration ... ANNUAL SALMON FESTIVAL ... ANNUAL CASCADE AIDS WALK

Events in the small town of Jena, La. may have sparked a new passion for civil rights and justice in America. But it wasn't just Jena. It was 50 bullets aimed at a car full of Blacks in New York; it was Genarlow Wilson, jailed as a teen for having consensual sex with a girlfriend; and it was a Black girl getting seven years for pushing a teacher's aide in Texas. For many African Americans and civil libertarians of all races, these cases — and many others that never made the headlines — seem to define a justice system that is anything but just ...